Online fashion retailer Boohoo has bought Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis in a £25.2m deal, prompting the permanent closure of the stores in Medway with all staff made redundant. The deal is for the stock, ecommerce and digital assets of the three brands, which were owned by the Arcadia Group when it entered administration at the end of last year. However, it does not include the 214 remaining Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton shops, which will permanently close, according to administrators from Deloitte. The affected stores in Medway include:
The Wallis store at Hempstead Valley, Gillingham, already permanently closed in January in a separate decision by the Arcadia Group, which saw it shut 31 stores. Around 2,450 staff across Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis will lose their jobs as a result of the sale, and have been informed about this by email already.
Boohoo chief executive John Lyttle said: “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of the assets associated with the online businesses of the three established brands Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis. “Acquiring these well-known brands in British fashion out of administration ensures their heritage is sustained, while our investment aims to transform them into brands that are fit for the current market environment. “We have a successful track record of integrating British heritage fashion brands on to our proven multi-brand platform, and we are looking forward to bringing these brands on board.” Sir Phillip Green’s Arcadia Group was one of the major players on the UK high street, but the Covid-19 pandemic dealt a final blow to his retail empire. In December it entered administration, putting around 13,000 of jobs at risk. Last week Boohoo's rival and another online fashion retailer Asos completed a £330 million deal to buy Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT from Arcadia. The closure of Burton and Dorothy Perkins in Chatham joins a growing list of businesses that have left the town centre since the beginning of 2020. This includes Debenhams in January, Buzz Bingo in July, GO Outdoors in August, the Age UK charity shop in September, the Co-op Bank in November, KFC in December and Subway this January. Comments are closed.
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